Thursday, November 26, 2009

Police Thursday are investigating the break-in and theft of a computer from a political campaign office on the Far North Side. The ward's committeeman doubts the break-in was political in nature, though.

About 7:20 a.m. police got a call that a door was open at the office on the 1700 block of West Greenleaf, police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez said. The 49th Ward Democratic Party campaign office is at 1774 W. Greenleaf Ave., according to 49th Ward Democratic Committeeman David Fagus.

Responding officers found that a window had been broken and a door opened, Perez said.

A computer and monitor were taken, Fagus said.

It was not immediately known what time the break-in may have occurred. The incident is being investigated as a burglary, Perez said.

Fagus said this sort of thing has not happened at the office previously. "It's kind of an odd occurrence," he said.

The office is used mainly by Ald. Joe Moore, Fagus said, and the group Organizing for America, a national Democratic group, also uses the space.

Still, "it would be very unlikely (the break-in) is political," he said. "Nobody in the office is running for anything at the moment," and he noted the computer taken "was the one with the best monitor." Whomever broke into the office saw what appeared to be a valuable computer and monitor, broke in, and left, Fagus said.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Joseph Greeley Moore set the vibe that for several decades sustained the No Exit Cafe in Rogers Park, where coffee-fueled conversation and long games of chess trumped humdrum concerns over dollars and cents.

Mr. Moore, 77, died of complications related to renal failure on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in a hospital in Kentucky, said his wife, JoAnn. He had been living in Kentucky for several years.

Mr. Moore bought the No Exit circa 1959, a year after it opened on Foster Street in Evanston. When Northwestern University decided it needed the property (now a parking lot) in 1967, Mr. Moore moved the cafe south to 7001 N. Glenwood Ave. in Chicago, still hard against the "L" tracks.

He was politically active and a "talker," friends said, and in the No Exit, which took its name from the title of a Jean Paul Sartre play, he found both a profession and a second home.

"He lived in the place, practically," said Sue Kozin, who with her husband, Brian, owned the cafe from 1977 to 2000.

Have you noticed the improvements this summer at Kilmer Triangle (middle of the Rogers/Ashland/Birchwood intersection)? Take a look. All plants, mulch and labor were generously donated by Gethsemane Garden Center.

Next time you're at Gethsemane, thank the staff and management there. Gethsemane has been very active in landscaping traffic circles and medians and other public spaces – donating shrubs, trees, labor and other materials. Jargowood Block Club is a lucky beneficiary of their generosity.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

I've been doing very well with readership of Rogers Park in 1,000 Words. I've had 277,597 Visitors since June 22, 2007 and people curious about it's Author have pinned my Profile Views to a now unchanging 400,000.